None of this 'Happy Holidays' nonsense from us here at the Vic - It's a full blown 'Happy Christmas' to you all - are you ready for this great event.............?? Our decorations went up the first full weekend in December and the dreaded Christmas music shortly afterwards. Our poor team are already sick to death of hearing the same stuff, but just occasionally you'll get one of them humming away...... they won't admit it mind you!
So this week we said goodbye to our lovely General Manager Rob, who's been with us for 5 years and has worked so hard to help us build the business up following on from the refurb and is loved by customers and staff alike. He's been like a second son to me personally and we are all so going to miss him! There was a very drunken send off in the week, where Rob had written 2 speeches - one clean and lovely the other risqué and hilarious. I'll leave you to guess which one we all enjoyed more!Now holding the reigns as our new Manager is Geordie Jess. She's been with us 2 years and has a great proven record in hospitality, so our business is in good, safe hands!
Well, it's been another amazing year here at the Vic with us winning some truly super awards;- not least was being the Taste of the West overall No 1 Place to Go To 2017 Champions as well as Best Dining Pub !
 |
| New Manager Jess & Senior Chef James at an awards evening |
Perhaps not the best summer trade we've ever known this year so we'll be doing a 'sun' dance next year, but the rest of the year hasn't been bad at all and Gin continues to be the No 1 most asked for drink closely followed by Champagne!
Staffing the kitchen this year proved very challenging! In common with the rest of the UK, Chefs are in short supply and the ones that are around are not always of the calibre I like for our award winning pub, and to be fair, not many Chefs can send out huge numbers of meals a day every day (all freshly cooked) but we are back to full strength again with some very talented people once more.
In the Front of House (and despite losing Rob) we have maintained a very stable team, all of them being the sort of people you can really rely on to get the job done and without making a fuss. Customers like to see friendly, familiar faces who remember them and in the Vics team that's just what you get. We have 3 apprentices in the FOH team and 1 in the kitchen - so I'm looking forward to watching their progress.
What will 2018 bring then for us as a business?? I think it's about cementing our position as an award winning pub with great staff, fabulous food and a huge range of drinks. A garden that we hope will get better use next year (please lets have a hot summer) and hopefully a huge surprise for our customers during CrabFest weekend!
Until then, Tim and Myself would like to wish you, our loyal and very lovely customers the Merriest of Christmases and a Peaceful, Prosperous and frankly Wonderful New Year,
Much love
Liz x x x x
No comments:
Post a Comment